Catching Lightning in a Bottle
by TheBookyMonster
Summary: Falling in love is easy. Falling in love with the right person and having them love you back? It's as easy as catching lightning in a bottle. Scarlett O'hara is queen bee at Clayton County High School. Rhett Butler is the new kid in town with a bad reputation. How will the two react when they meet? My idea of how GWTW would go if it were set in high school during the 21st century.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"I can't believe that you two slacked off during class again. I know you two don't care if you fail your project, and Tom doesn't either, but what about Boyd? He studies so hard, and I know he's hoping to ace the midterm coming up." I watched, amusedly, as the two boys in front of me laughed. They were the perfect example of the average teen – pimply faces, long gangly limbs that looked like they had been used for tug of war and last but not least: wide, mischievous grins that identified them as troublemakers. Stuart and Brent Tarleton were Clayton County High School's two biggest pranksters, and everyone knew it.

"Aw, Boyd'll be fine. He doesn't have to study to get good grades in Chemistry. And besides, we'd have to ask for an extension on the project any way." Stuart said, resting his feet on my desk, nearly knocking my purse down in the process. I caught it before all of my emergency makeup could fall out and set it on the floor, rolling my eyes in the process.

"And why is that?" I asked, feigning interest. Stuart and Brent shared a look and grinned.

"Football tryouts are coming up. We'd have to start practicing." Brent answered, sounding smug. Pff. As if he was announcing his candidacy for president. I groaned irritably. The Tarleton twins frowned.

"What's wrong?" Stuart asked, removing his feet from my desk so he could lean forward concernedly.

"I HATE all of this talk about football! Every guy I talk to doesn't shut up about it! I don't care about football, and I don't understand why every single guy at this school thinks it is so fascinating. It's just a bunch of men running around and tackling each other. It's boring." I snapped. Brent opened his mouth to speak, but a look from his brother shut him up.

"We're sorry, Scarlett. I know that girls just don't get football. It's just that we have good players this year! I know that by the time we finally go up against Union High we have kicked their –"

"So are you two going to the Wilkes's party tomorrow?" I interrupted.

I had to change the subject or I was going to scream! Everyday it was the same thing with these two. 'Oh, we know girls don't get football, Scarlett, but we'll win this year for sure!' 'With me on the team there's no way we can lose to those stupid Union High guys.' Or my personal favorite, 'Scarlett, do you promise to give me a kiss every time I make a touchdown?' Even my own father was obsessed with the sport. It felt like the only reason why he ever asked me about school was to find out who was trying out for the team.

"Yeah, definitely! It'll be so cool! I know Ashley will throw the best party ever." Brent answered, getting excited.

"I heard that Mr. Wilkes was going to let us do whatever we wanted. I told Ashley I'd bring the booze." Stuart replied.

I smiled at that. Ashley's father was the coolest dad ever. He said that we were going to do stuff like that anyway, and he might as well make sure that there is some safety measures put in place. I bet he would have a bunch of designated drivers on staff ready to take home any drunken high schoolers.

"Ashley's cool. I like him, even though he's kind of a nerd sometimes." Brent interjected.

"He is _not _a nerd!" I exclaimed. Brent and Stuart looked at me weirdly.

"Are you kidding me? Scarlett, the guy has always got his nose in some book. He chooses studying over partying, and the only reason why he's trying out for the football team is because he says he needs some form of extracurricular on his college applications. Don't get me wrong, he's an ok guy, but seriously?" Stuart pointed out, waiting for me to agree. Instead I glared at him.

Ok, maybe Ashley wasn't the biggest jock in the school, and maybe he did do a lot of reading, but so what? Ashley was sweet, and funny, and really, really, really cute… Anyway, he was also the smartest guy in school no doubt, and he was going to make it into a good college. He was going to be a billionaire by the time he was thirty, and I was going to be right there next to him!

"Anyway, he's perfect for Melanie Hamilton." Brent said, nodding his head knowingly. I felt an icy shiver go down my spine, and I resisted the urge to shudder.

Melanie…Hamilton?

"What do you mean, Melanie Hamilton?" I asked, fighting to keep the panic out of my voice.

"Uh, yeah. Everyone's been talking about it. They've been going out for a few of days now. This party is their first as a couple." Stuart said, his eyes watching my face carefully. I smoothed it out into a slightly curious, but overall apathetic look. It took more effort than I was used to.

"Oh. I was under the impression that everyone was talking about her brother Charles Hamilton and Honey Wilkes. They've been pretty obvious for a while now." I said, sounding barely interested.

"Yeah well, Ashley and Melanie are the 'it' couple right now. Charles and Honey will have their time in the sun later." Stuart replied.

_Ding. Ding. Diiiing._ I instantly felt relieved that the boys had to go, but I continued to keep it off of my face. The second they were gone, that's when I could let the utter despair show on my face. Ashley had a girlfriend? And it wasn't me? How could this happen? I mean, come on. I was way hotter than Melanie Hamilton. She was tiny, and had the figure and face of a middle schooler. She had stringy blonde hair and was so nerdy and boring. Ashley didn't belong with _her._

"That's the bell. Well, we have to go to class. We'll see you at the party?" Stuart asked me. I nodded, my eyes flitting down to my purse. I started digging through it in order to avoid having to show my face to the Tarleton twins any more. They kept on turning around to look at me, so I grabbed my pocket mirror and pulled it out to check my makeup. My face looked pale and sickly, and my eyes were wide and a little over bright. I grabbed my emergency makeup and started trying to bring more color into my face, but after a while I snapped the mirror shut angrily and shoved it into my bag.

"What's wrong, Scarlett?" I looked up. Mammy, one of my freshmen, was looking concernedly down at me. I stared grouchily at the chalkboard in the front of the classroom.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine." I snapped. She snorted skeptically.

"Yeah right. Seriously though, what's wrong? Is there anything that I can help with?" She asked. I shot her a dirty look. Mammy was a sweet girl, a freshman that I've been friends with since I was little.

At Clayton County High School, most freshmen were unofficially 'assigned' to a portion of the school's upperclassmen. The idea was so that the school could choose some of the better, brighter juniors and seniors to show the freshmen the ropes. Of course, this really just meant that the seniors and juniors had a bunch of kids running around and doing small little jobs for them, like carrying books, helping them study, or doing homework. The students were supposed to be chosen based on grades or extracurricular accomplishments, but it was really just a popularity contest. The more freshmen a person had, the more popular they were. I myself had almost twenty freshmen followers.

"Go to class Mammy. I don't need you right now." I said coldly. My teacher, Ms. Tara, was starting to write today's notes on the whiteboards. Class was going to start soon.

"That's a load of crap and you know it. What's wrong? Are you sick? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine, Mammy."

"I'm going to have someone bring you your sweatshirt from your locker."

"I don't want my sweatshirt. It makes me look frumpy and fat."

"It also makes you look warm. Here, I've texted Rosa to bring you your sweatshirt. She should be here any minute now."

"Don't you have class to go to?" I asked pointedly. She raised her eyebrow at me.

"I have study hall first period. My teacher doesn't care if I'm late. You look like you're about to cry. Should I tell the teacher that you need to go home sick?" She asked, her hand going to my forehead. I shook off her motherly gesture.

"I'm _fine_, Mammy. Go to class. _Now._" I said frigidly. Mammy looked hurt.

"Don't you be mean to me; I'm just trying to be a good freshie. Until you graduate, it's my job to make sure you're doing well so you can get into a good college. And gosh darn it that's what I'm going to do!" She said. I rolled my eyes. She turned around huffily, her fingers flying on her phone's keyboard. She was probably texting my other freshmen that I was in a bad mood so watch out. I shivered involuntarily. Where the heck was Rosa with my sweatshirt?

"Alright class, let's start on the warm-up that I have here on the board!" Ms. Tara called out to the class. The classroom was filled with talking, laughing, and pencils scratching out the answers. After a few minutes, there was a knock at the door, and the entire class went silent. Ms. Tara opened the door. Rosa was standing just outside of it, holding my ugly grey sweatshirt. The classroom giggled as I strode up to the door and grabbed the stupid thing out of her hands.

Freshmen were so annoying sometimes.

"So Rhett, what do you think about my idea for the project?" I looked up, bored. I was leaning back in a library chair, my feet on the table. Frank Kennedy, my project partner for AP US History, was looking at me anxiously. I shrugged.

"Sounds good to me. I can get my part of the project done easily enough, but if you need help on your end then I guess I can stay a little while longer." I said, hoping he would decline. The last thing I wanted to do was spend my Friday night at the library working on some stupid history project. I was new to town, and I needed to get out and see what the heck there was to do in town. Frank checked his watch.

"Actually, I can't work on it some more. There's this party at Ashley Wilkes's house tonight…" He said. My ears perked up. Party?

"Ashley Wilkes. Sounds hot." I said, only vaguely interested in the girl.

"Ashley's a dude."

"Oh. Then don't ever tell anyone that I said that." I responded, embarrassed.

"You know, it's pretty much an open invitation. If you want to come…" He started. I thought about it for a minute. A party could be fun. After all, how else could I start getting a good rep?

"Are you sure that this Ashley guy won't mind me crashing?" I asked, not particularly caring if he did mind. Frank shook his head vigorously.

"No, of course not! Ashley's a really cool guy. He's got a house big enough to fit the entire school, and his dad lets us bring alcohol as long as we promise not to go driving afterwards." He said. I paused, pretending to think it over.

"Sure, why not? Thanks man." I said.

My first party at Clayton County. Should be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

(Scarlett's POV)

"MOOOMM! Scarlett won't let me borrow her green dress!"

"MOOOMM! I don't want her to wear it!" I ran into the sitting room where my mother was sitting. She was slumped over in front of a TV tray, a steaming hot dinner casting its scent all over the room. She had deep bags under her eyes. I guessed she had a really rough day at the hospital. I felt the urge to apologize for bothering her and leave quietly. She worked so hard; I didn't want to add to her stress.

"Mommy, make her give me the dress. Frank Kennedy is supposed to be at the party and I want to look good. I don't have anything else to wear!" Suellen ran in after me, almost crashing into me in her haste to complain to Mom. I rolled my eyes. Whenever she wanted something, Suellen would always try to act like a baby, a little girl who had to be protected from her mean older sister. Mom sighed and put her fork down.

"Sweetheart what's wrong with your pink dress? You look very pretty in that." She said. I winced at the weary tone. Mom worked too hard and everyone knew it. She practically ran the hospital, and sometimes when she had time she volunteered at the free clinic in downtown Clayton County. Dad hated that, because some of the worst people lived down there, all of the poor people and the crooks.

"But Mom I want to wear Scarlett's dress!" Suellen whined, stamping her foot on the ground. I groaned. Really? The foot stamp?

"Suellen, she said no. So go away and stop making everyone around you miserable. If that's possible." I snapped. Suellen glared at me, and I knew that if Mom wasn't right in front of us, she would have tried to hit me. She screamed in frustration and ran away, stomping up the stairs and slamming her door shut behind her. Spoiled little brat.

"Thanks Mom." I said. Mom didn't respond. She didn't want to make it seem like she had picked a favorite.

Later that night, I heard Dad's keys clang as they hit the key dish. I only had half an hour before I go to the party, and I still hadn't picked something to wear. Mammy was lazing on my bed, snacking on a bag of chips that she had grabbed. She was supposed to be helping me get ready.

"What about those skinny jeans? You know those black ones that tuck in so well with your boots?" She said in between munches. I glared at her through the mirror.

"And look like a cow next to skinny little Melanie Hamilton? I don't think so. I can't wear anything that she would look good in." I said irritably. She paused in mid-crunch, and I realized my mistake.

"What's Melanie Hamilton got to do with it? You've never compared yourself to her before. You've never compared yourself to anyone, really." She asked warily. I shrugged.

"I'm just saying. I don't want anyone thinking that I look bad tonight. I worked so hard to get the reputation of being one of the hottest girls in school, and the last thing I want is to have that go down the drain." I explained. I picked up a dress that I had bought a long time ago and held it up. Mammy looked it over and frowned.

"You think that your parents would let you go out in that? My dad would lock me in my room just for owning a dress like that." She commented. I rolled my eyes and went into my bathroom to pull it on in private.

The dress was mint-green, matching my eyes completely. The wrap skirt part started at the waist and was tight-fitting, and it ended mid-thigh. The top material was sheer and a little loose, the shoulders were bare, and admittedly the neckline showed a little bit too much to be tasteful, but I figured that a good necklace would cover up anything that I needed. I remembered buying that particular dress as a joke to annoy my father.

"How do I look?" I asked, though honestly I didn't want to hear Mammy's answer. I slipped on black stilettos and grabbed a black leather jacket to cover up before Dad could have a heart-attack. Mammy was watching, disapprovingly, as I started putting makeup on my face.

"The girls are going to say that you look like a hooker." She said honestly. I frowned at her as I slipped on a few bracelets, a big chunky necklace, and matching earrings. I curled my hair and brushed it out, and gazed at the finished product. I didn't care what the girls thought. I didn't care what anyone thought, except Ashley.

A fantasy flashed through my mind where Ashley immediately broke up with Melanie after seeing me. Then he pulled me to him, asked me to be his girlfriend, and then…

"SCARLETT! WE'RE NOT WAITING FOREVER! IF YOU'RE NOT DOWN HERE IN FIVE MINUTES THEN I'LL TAKE SUELLEN AND LEAVE YOU AT HOME!" I heard my father shout from downstairs. I rolled my eyes. He wouldn't leave me and we both knew it. Dad could pretend to be strict as much as possible, but everyone in the entire town knew that he was a sweetie.

"Coming!" I shouted back. I glanced at Mammy, who grabbed my math textbook.

"I'll get to work on your homework." She said. I bit my lip. I usually never made one of my freshmen do my homework. It wasn't right, and it certainly didn't help me. But I paused and thought about Ashley and the party. If I went, I wouldn't have any time to finish it later. After all, if all went according to plan, then I would be busy going on dates with Ashley this weekend.

"SCARLETT!" Dad shouted one more time. I shrugged.

"Thanks Mammy. See you!" I said, shuffling as fast as I could down the stairs. It was a difficult thing in heels, trust me.

Suellen and I piled into Dad's precious sports car, and we took off. The streets were quiet, and that made me nervous, with only my thoughts keeping me company. Suellen was still mad that she had to wear her own sweater, Dad didn't care about the party, and I couldn't think about anything to talk about. When we came to a stop sign, Dad rolled down the windows to discuss cars with Brent and Stuart's mom, who was pulled up right next to us. I rolled my eyes and drummed my fingers anxiously on my thigh. Every second that Dad was talking to Mrs. Tarleton, Ashley was getting closer to Melanie!

"Dad, the light's green." I said the second that it changed. Dad ignored me and continued talking.

"Oh, really? I though that the 2010 model was better." He called out, talking about some stupid car.

"Dad, we're going to be late." I pointed out, letting a slight whine enter my voice.

"Just a minute Scarlett." He said, holding his finger up while Mrs. Tarleton talked. I huffed angrily and slumped back into the seat, crossing my arms across my chest angrily.

"-boys will be trying out for the team this year." I heard Mrs. Tarleton say. I felt frustrated tears prick at my eyes. If they started talking about football, then there was no way that we would be arriving at the party any time soon.

"Oh? Are you going to drive them to the games yourself?" He asked.

"And let them near my precious cars? I don't think so. There is no way that I'm going to let them take my cars away from me; I don't care what they are doing." She responded. Dad opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. I put on my best smile, and I rested my hand gently on his arm.

"Daddy, please, can we get going? I know you love your cars and football, but you guys can talk about it later." I said, trying to do my best puppy dog eyes. He sighed, but he turned to Mrs. Tarleton and said good bye.

"I don't have to be taking you to this thing, you know." He said grumpily. I hid my smirk.

"I know. Thank you so much, Daddy." I said sweetly, and he grunted and fell silent. Like always, he was all bark and no bite.

…...

(Rhett's POV)

The party that Frank took me to was pretty dull. Sure, there was booze, but other than that there wasn't much to do. The girls were either plain, too friendly to be a good challenge, or they whispered to each other every time I made eye contact with them. I passed by one girl, and over heard her whispering to her friend, "I heard that he got a girl pregnant over at Charleston and he refused to admit it."

I chuckled darkly at that. Surprising, really, how all of the bad rumors about me were already being spread throughout the school that I had only been going to for a week. Oh well. Let them say what they wanted about me. After all, girls do love a bad boy.

"Hey, Rhett." I turned away from the loud gossiping pair. Frank was dragging some guy that looked about my age towards me. He was a half a head taller than me, but he was skinny and lanky. He looked nervous meeting me. I chugged down the remainder of my spiked punch, watching him over the rim of my red SOLO cup.

"Uh, I'm Ashley Wilkes." He said awkwardly. I finished with my drink and then held out my hand for him to shake.

"Rhett Butler. Thanks for letting me in." I said, being polite. Ashley still looked uncomfortable. I guessed that he had heard all of the rumors about me.

"No problem. Frank said that you were an ok guy." He said, shifting his feet anxiously.

"I like to think so." I said snidely. Ashley looked around for an excuse to leave. I smirked. He may throw a party with alcohol at it, he may be popular at this school, but no way would he be the cool guy at my old school.

"Well, I should go find Melanie. Hope you guys enjoy the party." He said, and then he walked off to go sling his arm around a tiny, skinny girl. She was pretty, I'll give her that, but she looked more like a freshman than an upperclassmen. Frank smiled, and excused himself as well, saying something about a girl named Suellen.

I made my way towards the punch table, wanting to get a little bit drunker than I was before I decided to talk to anybody else at the party. I stayed near the wall, choosing instead to people watch as I drank. Frank had gone over to what looked like a sophomore girl. She was probably rich, wearing a tight designer pink dress. She was leaning heavily on Frank's arm, and she was trying to flirt. Honestly, when I looked at her I just wanted to cover her up in an oversized sweatshirt and take her home. She was too young to be at this kind of party.

My eyes wandered, and they landed on this girl. She wasn't exactly beautiful, but for some reason, every single guy was drawn to her. She was surrounded by guys, and she laughed loudly at every single one of their lame jokes. I noticed her dress and snorted. It was short, tight, and showed just enough skin without making her look too much like a harlot. I laughed at the transparency of the guys around her. Even poor Frank was enchanted with her, to the disappointment of the little girl.

I was just about to write the girl off as a tease and a slut when I noticed her eyes. They kept on flitting over to Ashley Wilkes, as if watching to see if he was noticing her flirting. I could see her feel eyes on her, and she looked over at me. I could help it; I started laughing. She was a predator pretending to be prey, and she was constantly hunting down everything that she doesn't already have. She was just like me. She shot me an icy glare and then turned away, her nose high up in the air.

"This year for sure we are going to kick Union High's ass." I heard somebody say.

I snorted quietly to myself. I saw their football team last year. There was no way that they would have turned it around that well in the span of one year. Guys all over the party started to cheer their agreement. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. One guy, I had no idea what his name was, stumbled over to me and threw his arm around my shoulders, bringing attention to me. Part of me wanted to shrink back and hide, but that wasn't very manly. I stood tall and waited for the drunk guy next to me to say something.

"Why don't we get the new guy's opinion?" He asked the crowd. It went mostly silent, listening intently for my response. I paused, knowing that the right thing to say would be agreeing with them.

"Sorry boys, but it's not possible for you guys to beat Union this year. I mean, maybe y'all can beat Winfield Scott High, _maybe_, but Union's defense is way too good. They didn't graduate many seniors last year, and the one that they did weren't their best. I doubt Clayton County will even get a field goal on them." I said. Huh. In my head, it sounded a lot different. Like 'yeah, dude. We're going to kill them' different. Oh well. I wasn't wrong.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop 30 degrees. The guys were outraged, but they didn't want to start a fight and risk being sent home by Mr. Wilkes. The girls, though most didn't know what I said, were glaring at me just because they knew I had pissed off the guys. I cleared my throat awkwardly, but I kept my face calm and confident. I stayed by the punch bowl, drinking and keeping my head down as much as possible. Slowly but surely, the noise returned and the party gradually went back into full swing.

I made my way into one of the empty bedrooms that Mr. Wilkes had cleared out for the drunk kids who needed to pass out. I flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. This was going to be an interesting senior year, especially if I kept on pissing off all of my classmates. Not that I regretted what I said. They all needed someone to bring them down to earth, and I was definitely not going to help them with their delusions.

I woke up an hour later. The party had quieted down some, but the music was still playing. I blinked tiredly, wondering for a minute what woke me, and then I heard it again. Someone was opening the door. I sat up immediately, debating on whether I should pretend to be asleep again or excuse myself. In my struggle and surprise, I ended up falling to the floor on the other side of the bed. I guess I hadn't completely slept off all of the punch.

"Scarlett, what is it? Do you have some big secret to tell me?" I heard Ashley Wilkes say, laughing.

"Ashley, I love you." I blinked. That voice… it was the same one that I heard laughing at the stupidest jokes. The girl in the green dress was in the room with me. Poor Ashley had no idea how to react. He laughed nervously.

"Scarlett, that's not funny." He said.

"I know. I'm not trying to be funny." She said. I'm not sure who I felt more sorry for, the rejected Scarlett or Ashley for having to turn her down.

"Why are you doing this? You know I'm dating Melanie Hamilton. We can't be together." He said angrily.

"Ah ha! So you admit that if you weren't dating Melanie you'd be with me. I knew you liked me!" She said, sounding confident. I heard a squeak as Ashley fell back onto the bed. I gulped, not knowing what I was going to do if things escalated any more. Apologize and leave? Stay hidden?

"Scarlett, stop! I'm dating Melanie, and that's that. I'm on the football team, she's a cheerleader. We're both towards the top of the class, and everyone in the entire school says that we're the best couple. It's what is expected of us. Even if I did like you, I wouldn't give up all of that. All of our reputations are at stake. I'm sorry, Scarlett." I sucked in a breath. Scarlett must not like that.

"But Ashley-"

"No." I heard a slap. I winced in sympathy. I hate getting slapped, and it wasn't pleasant listening to it happen to another person either.

"I'm sorry." Ashley said once more, and then I heard footsteps and the door shut behind him. The bed squeaked once more, and Scarlett threw herself down. Again, I debated as to what I should do, but my decision was made for me. I sneezed.

"Who's there?" Scarlett said. I sighed. No use in hiding it now. I sat up and revealed my face.

"How long have you been there?" She asked, and her pale green eyes widened. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh don't worry. I heard the entire thing. Thank you for the entertainment." I said. She lunged across the bed, trying to attack me. I scooted back, grinning. I loved a feisty girl.

"You little-" She started, but I don't think she knew how to finish the sentence. No one ever did, really.

"Thanks again." I said. She paused for a second, and then followed my eyes. Realizing how far her neckline had been pulled down in and effort to strangle me, she shot up and tugged at her dress, trying to keep it in place. I laughed at her efforts, her attempts to cover up top made the dress ride up, showing quite a bit of leg. She let out an indignant shriek coupled with a foot stamp, and she grabbed a coaster from the nightstand by the bed and threw it at my head. I doubled over, laughing, and it whizzed over me and crashed into the wall behind me. Scarlett ran out of the room, angry as a hornet.

Yup. Nothing like a feisty girl.


End file.
